1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to seats of a so-called reclining type, and more particularly to a reclining device employed in such seats.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional reclining device will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 of the attached drawings.
The conventional device shown in the drawings comprises a bracket 4 secured to a rear portion of a seat cushion 2, and an arm 5 secured to a seatback 3. The arm 5 is pivotally connected to the bracket 4 through a pivot shaft (no numeral), so that the seatback 3 is inclinable forward and rearward relative to the seat cushion 2. Although not shown in the drawings, a biasing spring is associated with the arm 5 to bias the seatback 3 to pivot forward. The arm 5 is formed at its lower end with teeth 5a which are latchingly engageable with teeth 6a formed on a lock lever 6. The lock lever 6 is pivotally connected at its one end to the bracket 4 through a pivot pin (no numeral). The other end of the lock lever 6 is formed with a recess or curved edge 6b which faces downward in FIGS. 6 and 7. An actuating lever 7 in the form of a crank is pivotally connected to the bracket 4 through a pivot pin (no numeral). One end of the lever 7 is provided with a pin 7a which is slidably engageable with the curved edge 6b of the lock lever 6. The other end of the lever 7 is provided with a handle 7b which is projected into a recess 2a formed in an upper side portion of the seat cushion 2 The position of the recess 2a will be understood from FIG. 3. Referring back to FIG. 6, a spring 8 is expanded between the lower end of the actuating lever 7 and the bracket 4 so as to bias the lever 7 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot pin in this drawing, so that the pin 7a of the lever 7 is pressed against the curved edge 6b of the lock lever 6.
When, the handle 7b of the actuating lever 7 is lifted as is shown in FIG. 7, the pin 7a of the lever 7 is moved clockwise, sliding foward along the curved edge 6b of the lock lever 6. This movement of lock lever 6 due to its own weight thereby disengaging the teeth 6a. of the lock lever 6 from the teeth 5a of tee arm 5. The locked condition of the seatback 3 is thus cancelled, so that the seatback 3 is forced to incline forward to its foremost position by the force of the biasing spring associated therewith, as is shown in FIG. 7.
It is to be noted that under this foremost inclined condition of the seatback 3, a lower front swelled portion 5b of the arm 5 abuts on the lock lever 6 causing the curved edge 6b of the lock lever 6 to press against the pin 7a of the actuating lever 7. This means that when the seatback 3 is kept in its foremost inclined position as shown in FIG. 7, the handle 7b of the actuating lever 7 is kept projected in an unsightly manner from the recess 2a of the seat cushion 2.
When the seatback 3 is inclined rearward and stopped at a desired angular position, the lock lever 6 is raised and brought into latching engagement with the teeth 5a of the arm 5 due to a counterclockwise motion of the actuating lever 7 effected by the spring 8. Thus, the seatback 3 is locked at the desired angular position and the handle 7b becomes settled in the recess 2a.
However, the above-mentioned conventional reclining device has the following drawbacks due to its inherent construction.
That is, as is mentioned hereinabove, when the seatback 3 comes to its foremost inclined position, the handle 7b of the actuating lever 7 is projected from the recess 2a of the seat cushion 2. This is disadvantageous because the clothes of a seat occupant who has just risen up from the seat may be caught and thus torn by the projected handle 7b. Furthermore, due to interruption of the projected handle to the inclined seatback, the forward inclination of the seatback 3 is very limited.